


Comin' in Clutch

by Symantra



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure (kinda?), Comfort, Driving, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Nervousness, One Shot, Tourism, Trust, Vacation, first time freeway driver, yep mortin you read that right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26403604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Symantra/pseuds/Symantra
Summary: Mortin's performing live at a shopping street in Kawasaki. Masuki knows Maya is a big fan, so it's the perfect chance to invite her out. The plan was simple: meet up at the train station at 3 and have a blast. But when the trains stop working an hour before, they're seriously outta luck.Maya is about to give up when Masuki remembers there's still one option left. She doesn't really like it, but if itmakes Maya happy, she's willing to try.Its name is Death Galaxy.
Relationships: Satou Masuki & Yamato Maya
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Free Story Sundays





	Comin' in Clutch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ash0605](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash0605/gifts).



“ _The_ Mortin?”

As expected, Maya’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah. Looks like they’ll be performing in La Cittadella tomorrow at 4pm.” Masuki showed Maya the post from Mortin’s account. “It’s a place in Kawasaki. You interested?”

“Ooh! Totally!” Maya smiled and pumped her fists in front of her chest.

“How about we go together?” Masuki invited her with a grin and put her phone away. “I’ve been meaning to catch one of their performances at some point.”

“You mean you haven’t seen them perform yet?! Now we’ve definitely gotta go together! How about we meet up in front of the station tomorrow afternoon, an hour before?”

“Yeah, sure. See you then.”

* * *

Masuki woke up before noon, submerged her face in water to wash the sleep from her system, and went into a studio room to hit the drums for a bit. That was the only good thing there was to do in the morning; kill some time, eat something delicious for lunch, then figure out what to do from there.

In today’s case, she already had the third part done, because she was meeting up with Maya at ten to three. All that was left to do was heat up some fried rice, enjoy the hell out of it, and kill more time.

Hanging out with Maya was great because Maya was up for almost anything. Based on her appearance and huge interest in sound equipment, you wouldn’t expect her to be interested in things like sports or hiking around in the mountains. Yet Masuki had done both those things and more with her.

It was rare that Masuki had the opportunity to invite her out like this. Most of the time, all they could manage was an evening at a restaurant or an afternoon checking out music stores. Maybe a jam session here and there. So she was pretty hyped to head down to Kawasaki with her and check out the La Cittadella shopping street.

Around the time she planned to head out, she started getting dressed for the occasion—nothing special, just a black bolero over a tank top and her usual pleated dress—when her phone buzzed.

_| Maya:  
Masuki-san, I think the trains are down  
There was a power outage or something? I’m at the station right now and the trains are stopped_

“Huh, an outage?” Masuki opened a web page to check the status of the trains. Usually if the trains were down, they went back up pretty fast.

_| MASK:  
how long’ve they been out?_

_| Maya:  
Think they just went down. Not sure. I’m looking at the website right now but I’m not seeing any info yet_

Masuki gave up on the website and went to Twitter. The company that managed the trains had an account for updates on things like this. There was already a post acknowledging the downage and promising another update soon.

A few minutes later, they tweeted again.

_| Tōkaidō Line – Trains along the Tōkaidō will be down for an indeterminate amount of time. The lines are expected to be running again in 2–3 hours. Maintenance is aware & working on the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience._

_| The safety of our riders is of the utmost importance to us, thus trains along this line will be inoperational until it can be guaranteed. Thank you for using Japan Railways._

So that was it. Masuki sent Maya the tweet, who read it and replied instantly.

_| Maya:  
Darn, that’s a shame. Maybe Mortin will be performing tomorrow?_

Masuki checked Mortin’s account as well.

_| MASK:  
doesn’t look like it, no mention of any showings after today_

_| Maya:_

_Ah... I was looking forward to it, but I guess this happens._

Although it was just a text, Masuki felt Maya’s disappointment and shifted her jaw.

“Man,” she muttered, massaging her neck.

What a terrible coincidence. The one day she and Maya made plans outside of the city, and the trains were down. If only there was some other way they could get... there...

Masuki’s own train of thought ground to a halt when she remembered she literally owned a motorcycle. Technically, they did have another way to get there.

But getting around Tokyo with her motorcycle was one thing, and taking the freeway to another city was another. Tokyo streets were usually pretty clear, and traffic moved pretty slowly if it ever were crowded.

As much as she loved driving around at high speeds, the expressways were a dense jungle of moving vehicles. She had never had a real reason to use them; she could probably do it, but at the same time, her mouth ran a little dry thinking about it.

Still, she didn’t want Maya to be disappointed.

_| MASK:  
we can still make it. I’ve got my motorcycle. we’ll have to take the freeway though. if you’re okay with that, we could be there before the show starts_

She sent the text then frowned at it. If Maya declined, Masuki got that. It was a lot of trust to let someone drive you around. If anyone else asked Masuki if she wanted a ride, she had no reservations about turning them down unless she knew they were responsible.

Maya’s reply came as she was thinking about it.

_| Maya:  
Really? That’s fine! Should I come over to Galaxy?_

_| MASK:  
you sure you’re ok with it?_

_| Maya:  
Yeah. I wanna see Mortin perform, I don’t have anything else to do today._

_| MASK:  
aight, I’ll get ready_

Masuki looked in the mirror again. She buttoned up her top, hoping it would keep her heart in her chest where it belonged.

Well, she had a few minutes to calm herself down and get ready.

Her phone buzzed again. She picked it up, half-expecting it was Maya changing her mind.

_| Maya:  
Do I need to buy a helmet?_

* * *

Galaxy wasn’t that far from the station, and it was also hard to miss. Maya got there after walking for just five minutes.

She was trying to decide whether to knock on the door to the house or the livehouse when Masuki called out to her from behind.

“Yo.” Masuki greeted.

“Good afternoon, Masuki-san!”

Masuki finished off a can of coffee and threw it into a trash can across the street. “Such a shame the trains went down,” she said as she came up to Maya.

“Right? It’s such an inconvenient time. But what can you do? They’ve gotta make sure everything is safe.”

“Yeah, I get you. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah. We’re taking your motorcycle, right? Do I need anything else? Like, uh, protective feet gear or something?”

“Nah, all you need is a helmet.” Masuki opened the door to her house and paused in the doorway. “Just tie your shoelaces and tuck in anything that might wave around. You’ll probably want to take off your glasses too, and find somewhere safe to put ‘em. Lemme get the helmets and I’ll be out.”

“Okay!” Maya waved. She checked herself quickly for all the things Masuki had told her. Shoelaces and wavy parts, all good. Glasses, she was going to keep them on for now, but she had a bag with her she could stow them in.

“Let’s see... That must be Masuki’s motorcycle!” She walked over to it, more impressed with every step closer she took. It had cool-looking parts, a clean sheen across its exterior, and the words Death Galaxy painted on the side of it in sharp letters. Maya didn’t know much about motorcycles, but it seemed well-maintained.

Maya walked back over to the door and poked her head in just in time to see Masuki downing another can of coffee.

“Wait. How many of those have you had, Masuki-san?”

“Three,” Masuki said without looking at her. She threw the can away.

“Th-three?” Maya drew back. The only other person she knew that drank that much coffee was Misaki. Well, Misaki probably drank more. “Do you usually have that much? Why so many?”

“It’s just insurance to make sure I’m extra alert since I’m gonna be driving a long way.”

“But the distance is only about 30 minutes,” Maya commented, remembering the map she had looked up earlier. “And you got enough sleep, right?”

Masuki scratched the back of her head. “Yeah, I did. But it’s the freeway, you know? I’m just being careful. This’ll be the first time I actually drive on one of the major expressways.”

The pieces started falling into place. “Oh, I get it. You’re just worried, huh?”

“Yeah.” Masuki nodded and picked up a pair of helmets from the table. “I don’t want to get into an accident, you feel? Especially you’re gonna be with me. Driving can be pretty dangerous.”

Hearing that Masuki hadn’t driven on the freeway before surprised Maya. But she knew Masuki was a competent driver; she rode around the city all the time, after all, and she knew how to speed up without being reckless.

“I feel you. I trust you though, Masuki-san! Just tell me everything I need to know: how to sit, where to put my feet, where to hold my hands. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before, so I wanna be a good passenger before we go anywhere.”

Masuki seemed a little taken aback. “Oh, okay. Good call.” She handed Maya a helmet. “First things first, put this on and make sure it fits. Then, this is how it’s gonna work...”

* * *

Helmet snug against her forehead, check.

Glasses stored safely in her bag, which was secured flat against her back, check.

Arms around Masuki’s waist, check.

Maya held on tight as Masuki zipped through the city streets. They hadn’t hit the freeway yet, but Masuki had assured her the same rules applied for being a passenger.

Unfortunately they couldn’t talk during the ride. Not only would it be distracting, but they would be going too fast to hear each other anyway. But they could always use hand signals if they needed to.

“ _This is kinda fun,”_ Maya thought as they rode along. The wind, the engine, the buildings flying past. So this was what it was like!

Before long, they approached the freeway. More cars appeared on the street. Maya felt Masuki’s abs tense up through her shirt.

There wasn’t much she could do, but with her arms she gave her an encouraging squeeze. It was hard to tell if it helped.

Maya held on as Masuki accelerated and merged into the lane without any problems. The sound of cars grew to a droning noise and surrounded them instantly. Masuki changed lanes into the left lane, where the cars were moving slower and letting others pass on the right.

Kawasaki wasn’t that far from Tokyo, but they would be on the freeway for a while. Maya didn’t let go, but she did lift her head a bit so she could look around.

Watching Japan’s mountains and skyscrapers pass in parallax was honestly amazing. Everything was a bit tinted and blurry through her visor, the latter because she wasn’t wearing her glasses. But she could still enjoy the scenery.

Masuki activated her turn signal to switch lanes, but she turned it off after a second. A red car sped past on their right, needing no more than four seconds to fully pass them. Maya expected Masuki to signal again, but for a while they stayed in the left lane, letting cars pass by.

Eventually, Masuki did signal again. She moved into the fast lane. After that, she signaled again and got onto one of the roads exiting the freeway.

Were they there already? Time sure flew. Kawasaki seemed smaller than Maya had imagined, but at least there was a Family Mart and a gas station. Although, it was a little weird how that sign there had Tokyo on it—oh.

They pulled into a space by the convenience store, and Masuki turned off the engine. Maya waited for her to take off the helmet before following suit.

“What’s wrong, Masuki-san?” she asked. “We’re still in Tokyo, right?”

Masuki took half a minute to respond. Sweat rolled down the back of her neck, and she was panting.

“I—” She stopped. “Nothing.”

She was quiet for a bit. Maya wet her lips, wondering if there was something she could say.

Masuki continued after a moment. “Sorry. I had to stop for a bit. My hands were shaking too much.”

Masuki held out her hand to prove it. Her fingers trembled.

“You were doing a great job though,” Maya told her. “No mistakes, smooth driving, all that. For a first time, you did it like a pro.”

Masuki, though she hesitated a bit, nodded and took a deep breath. Maya let her take as much time as she needed to catch her breath.

“Want me to get you something from Family Mart?” she offered.

“Nah, I’m good.” Masuki exhaled, forcing out all the jitters in her system. “Okay. Alright. Think I’m ready to hit the road again. Sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize!” Maya patted her shoulder, suddenly feeling a bit out of place on the back of a motorcycle. “I hope me being here isn’t making it more stressful for you. Since I’m kind of a beginner and all.”

“Don’t worry about it. It ain’t your fault. If anything, I’m impressed you aren’t nervous.”

“What’s there to be nervous about?” Maya beamed. “Well, besides getting into an accident... You know what, forget I said that. You’re a good driver, Masuki-san! If anything was to happen, you wouldn’t be at fault. I’m sure of it.”

Though Masuki didn’t reply immediately, Maya could tell by how her features relaxed that her words had helped. Masuki sat up straight, twisted her back a few times, and gave her shoulders a good roll.

“Have you ever been to La Cittadella before?” Maya asked after a while. “The shopping street we’re going to?” Masuki shook her head.

“Don’t think so. What’s it like?”

Maya nodded, bringing to mind all the things she had read online. “I haven’t been there myself either, but apparently it’s got a heavy Italian influence. The entire place has kinda got a western vibe to it, with stuff like outdoor dining and old-fashioned stores. And supposedly, the way the street looks at night with the lamps and storefronts has got a really cool aesthetic.”

“Ohh, is that so?” Masuki gave a few appreciative nods. “Sounds like it could be fun. Well, it’s not like the trains are gonna be working for another few hours. So we may as well check it all out while we’re there.”

“But what about your motorcycle?” Maya pointed out. “How are you gonna get it home if we take the train?”

“Huh? That ain’t the point, man!” Masuki retorted, smirking after a second. “But it is a good one.”

“Wait, you aren’t sending me home by myself, are you?” Maya opened her eyes wide, and a second later they both burst into laughter.

“Aight,” Masuki announced after a little while. “I think I’m good now. Let’s get going.”

They put their helmets back on. While Maya was fiddling with the chin strap on hers, Masuki cleared her throat, loudly. “Hey, uh. Thanks. Sorry for getting nervous and having to make a stop here.”

Maya shook her head, both in response and to test that her helmet was on properly. “Don’t worry about it,” she declared. “If anything, I should be thanking you. You’re the one who offered to drive me, even though you knew you’d be doing something you were nervous about. That’s pretty darn cool of you, King.”

Masuki’s smile was half-obscured by her visor. She revved the engine, and Maya grabbed onto her waist. Before driving out of the lot, however, Masuki turned back and held out her hand, palm down and fingers curled.

Maya took a second to understand what she was getting at. But when she did, she grinned and did the same thing. One fist bump later, they were back on the road, the wind kissing their knuckles.

In the end, everything was just as Maya had expected—while the street lamps cast a warm glow at her feet, evening spread across the sky, and Masuki was there by her side the entire time.


End file.
